Cleaning your gutters

[atraudes]

So I was cleaning my car yesterday and found a pile of bubbles in the driver's door in the hinge area. After some further probing, I realized it was a drainage area and it was crammed full of leaves and crud. I wanted to post this here to show one of the routes that water drains out of our cars that apparently is prone to getting clogged over time. If you find any more gutters that can be cleaned, post them here so we can have all of them in one place!

So, here's the area inside the door that I noticed the bubbles. Unless you have some serious debris, you probably won't be able to get much out this way.



So, if you stick a garden hose into that opening, turn it on, and look underneath, you'll see water coming out of a spout like so:



If you reach up in that spout with you fingers (or pliers, I suppose ) you can start pulling stuff out. I pulled a large handful out of my driver's side, but the passenger's side was completely clean.



This gutter provides drainage for the three clean air intake vents below the windshield. I'm not exactly sure how leaves get in there, but my guess is there's a way in through the engine compartment as well.

[rgk]

Boy, am I glad someone around here cleans their car!

[BarryN]

This is good stuff. Thanks for the info

[barnaclebob]

I know there are drain tubes for the sunroof that can get clogged. I haven't gone through the trouble to inspect mine though.

[atraudes]

Oh good call! I just recently figured out what those clear tubes were. I'll have to give it a look sometime this summer.

Thanks BarryN!

[Pathy415]

Good to know this thanks Atraudes. As for the drain tubes for the sunrof, anyone happen to have a pic as to their location?

Thanks!

[BarryN]

I'm going to try to find a way to clear the drain tubes for the sunroof soon. I'm having leak issues on my Altima too. The drain at the top isn't able to be reached with your average air compressor nozzles and the drain tubes are tucked in the wheel wells. This may take some doing.

[GRNMACHINE]

Thanks for posting-that area usually gets filled with leaves that are not the easiest to remove. Did not realize there were tubes there for water. Will hose this out when it warms up.